Reintroducing Foods on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol Review

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One of the topics I get asked about frequently here on the blog is how to go about reintroducing foods. While I have a short blog article here, this topic is a deep one, and one that I have found hard to cover in this space. The most obvious difficulty is just that we are all on our own journey, and it is difficult to hear of another’s experience without comparing it to our own.

That being said, I’ll share a little bit of my reintroduction journey here, but just know that yours will most likely be different. I adhered to the Autoimmune Protocol strictly for a couple of months, at which point I only felt marginally better. Had I known what I know now, I would have stayed the course a little longer before reintroducing foods–but just the small amount of progress I made in that time frame made me really excited to try new things. I was able to tolerate seeds, as well as nuts, first soaked and sprouted and then raw. I did notice though, upon reintroduction that I was sensitive to some nuts and seeds (sesame, cashews, pistachios) and others that I technically tolerated (like almonds) I didn’t digest well. Another month, and I tried eggs, which were an immediate fail. I tried nightshades, which caused my most severe reaction to date. I decided to hold steady on the Autoimmune Protocol plus occasional nuts and seeds, for about a year before I tried reintroducing eggs again, and this time I was successful (as long as the eggs were soy-free and occasionally consumed). Two and a half years later, I now eat most nuts and seeds, whole eggs, and as of very recently, some nightshades.

I’m really happy with where I am at, but it has not been without some confusion about what to expect during the whole reintroduction process. This is why I am so happy my friend and fellow autoimmune blogger over at Phoenix Helix, Eileen Laird has written this lovely guide about how to reintroduce foods on the Autoimmune Protocol. Coaching people about how to attempt the elimination diet is definitely something I am good at, but teaching people how to read their body’s signals when it comes time to assess wether a food is working or not is a more difficult topic. Eileen wrote this ebook to help people bridge the gap between strict elimination diet eating, and long-term management with reintroducing foods.

Some of the finer points of the book:

When to start reintroductions

Which foods to reintroduce first

How to reintroduce foods

How to track symptoms

Tips on how to balance emotions as well as survive flares

Common mistakes

Reintroduction recipes

In addition to all of this info, Eileen tells her story of how she used the Autoimmune Protocol to manage her Rheumatoid Arthritis, as well as gives us a sample reintroduction journal chronicling the experience a person might have on this journey. Eileen’s approach is gentle yet comprehensive, leading readers on how to be best equipped to embark on a process that takes a lot of intuition and care to do properly.

A lot of us in the autoimmune blogging community share recipes that are 100% compliant for those on the elimination diet, to avoid confusion. What I love about Eileen’s book, is that she shares recipes that include the staged reintroduction foods, but one at a time! For instance, one of the first foods people can reintroduce is egg yolks, so she includes a recipe for hollandaise (including a link to a video of how to properly separate the yolks and whites–how cool is that!). The ebook contains 25 recipes for these reintroduction foods, so that when it comes time to plan you will be covered!

For any of you who have been on the Autoimmune Protocol for awhile, are feeling some improvements, and ready to get started on reintroductions, I highly recommend purchasing this great resource! Its just the info you need to get started, at a great price.

Mickey Trescott is a cook and one of the bloggers behind Autoimmune Wellness. After recovering from her own struggle with both Celiac and Hashimoto’s disease, adrenal fatigue, and multiple vitamin deficiencies, Mickey started to write about her experience to share with others and help them realize they are not alone in their struggles. She is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner by the Nutritional Therapy Association, and is the author of The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, a guide and recipe book for the autoimmune protocol, and AIP Batch Cook, a video-based batch cooking program. You also can find her on Instagram.

13 comments

[…] “Eileen’s approach is gentle yet comprehensive, leading readers on how to be best equipped to embark on a process that takes a lot of intuition and care to do properly….What I love about Eileen’s book, is that she shares recipes that include the staged reintroduction foods, but one at a time! For instance, one of the first foods people can reintroduce is egg yolks, so she includes a recipe for hollandaise (including a link to a video of how to properly separate the yolks and whites–how cool is that!).” ~ Mickey Trescott, Autoimmune-Paleo […]

[…] begin to take place. Once you see clear improvement in your autoimmune condition, the next step is reintroductions. It’s a slow, careful process, where you test each food on the AIP, to see if it’s good or bad […]

Hi, I was diagnosed with a mild form of Lupus, an autoimmune disease which caused white patches on my back and tummy, I have been using a steroid cream for the past 5 months and the patches are getting a little smaller but I am concerned about the side effects of this cream as it makes your skin very sensitive and I have to be careful in the sun. The cream is called Diprosone…I was wondering if there is a anything in my diet that I can change or add to help improve this problem. I have had them now for over 5 years.

Thanks for your great work in research and the help you are giving to so many, I hope I can join the list.

Loe, Unfortunately I am not a medical practitioner and I can’t made recommendations for any specific health condition. Many people who suffer from autoimmune disease find that pinpointing their food allergies through doing an elimination diet helps them regain their health.

[…] intolerance, how does it work? There are two phases: the elimination period (strict AIP) and the reintroduction period (also called provocation.) You follow a strict AIP diet for a minimum of 30 days (some people wait […]

[…] that reason, it would be best to reintroduce other foods first, and postpone these until later in your reintroduction process. Both Mickey and Angie have celiac disease, and they have both reintroduced white rice […]

I am not clear if we should reintroduce one food at at time or if multiple foods can be reintroduced from the each stage? I am also not even really clear on what my symptoms are from my Hashimotos other than the usual (hair, nails, fatigue, weight, and memory). So I am really struggling to figure out how to do the reintroduction phase because all of those things are sneaky and take time to show up. Does this book help identify how to look for these type sneaky reactions? I am completely overwhelmed by all of this. I have been eliminating foods for four years now since I started with a functional doctor and I have ups and downs, weight loss, lower antibodies but then they go back up and I haven’t really been able to contribute it to any particular foods. Just venting. Thanks.

Robyn, You want to reintroduce one at a time. Sarah’s book, The Paleo Approach has all of the information about reintroductions and symptoms, much too long to list here. I recommend following her protocol as it is incredibly thorough!

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